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Campaign Accounting Lecture
Campaign Budgeting Source: Bob Carpenter- VP of American Viewpoint. Budget expenses to match the money coming in from fundraising. Overhead Rent. If a real estate corp donates an office, it is from a Corporation, not an individual, even if the individual owns the company and the office. Utilities- Phone, heat, gas, cable, internet, water, insurance. Equipment- computer, TV, fax, copier, VCR, printer, postage meter. Supplies- paper, ink, pens, envelope, letterhead, business cards, postage stamps. Staff Salaries- Campaign manager, Treasurer, Financial Director, Press Secretary, GOTV Director, Field Director, Driver, Scheduler, Researcher. If they work on a campaign for 18 months, it is hard to consider them temporary workers. Could give top 3-4 health insurance form small business health insurance pools. Overhead includes travel, care and feeding of volunteers. Fundraising- costs money to raise money. events- keep costs down. telemarketing direct mail. Research. Pollster, Lexis, Opposition Research. Direct mail- design, printing, postage State and local campaigns can get a headquarters donated. But the rent would be over $2,000 personal limit? Use regional foods at events. They are cheap gimmicks. Reindeer sausage in Alaska, serve the local beer. Finance Committee- phone calls, leaderhead, meetings, their own separate fundraising events. All must be put in the budget. One on one solicitations by candidate are needed for large donations. Collateral includes yard signs, bumper stickers, buttons, etc. Opposition research should research your opponent and your candidate. You should know as much about your candidate as the opposition does to respond to charges, etc. Includes bankruptcies, DUI, flunked college history course, etc. Most state D and R parties have a voter file and phone banks. Direct mail includes postage, printing, design, voter file maintenance, targeted mail. Contrast ads are not called attack ads anymore. They compare your position to that of your opponent. Don't call it a victory party. Call it an election night party. Pass out slate cards at the polls. These list all of the party's candidates on one card. You could have candidates from many parties on one slate card. The Responsible Voter slate card is a business. They may charge senate candidates more money than a congr candidate per 1,000. Contact the people who have applied for absentee ballots. 25% of Calif. voters were absentee in 2002. Media- ad buys - TV, radio, newspapers. includes production and on-air costs. Don't forget the weekly papers. They are cheaper. You can list all of your supporters. Small business owners for Smith, etc. Don't put them in alphabetical order. Make them look through the entire list. If you forget someone, apologize profusely, but ask for another donation to run a corrected ad next week. Collateral materials are yard signs, pens, buttons, bumper stickers, t shirts, hats, brochures. Make sure that it is 100% given out before election day. You could try to sell yard signs for $10, but you need them on high traffic corners. Use lapel stickers instead of buttons. They cost less. Buttons are used once, then put in a drawer. Give T-shirts to volunteers. Collect them afterwards then wash them. Or give them to people who show up for every rally and event. It is hard to sell campaign materials. If someone marches 2 hours in a parade for you, don't make them pay $15 for a shirt. Sell stuff on your web site. Better to spend money on the media if you can. Make sure your web sites link to other candidates and to the state party. Ask for a link to your endorsers' web sites. Prioritize the line items. They did this as a classroom exercise with no rigtht answers. 1. media 60% 2. overhead 10% 3. direct mail 8% 4. research 7-8% 5. fundraising 10-12% 6. Collateral 5% 7. misc 5%...............play with numbers until it totals 100% Rent- sharing headquarters with other candidates or with the state D or R party. Better to have your own. Your candidate's supporters may be incompatable with the other candidates'. Often the Presidential campaign will piggyback on your state headquarters.. Some economics of scale, but supporters might not like both candidates. If you use their headquarters, you should pay some of the rent. But just having some brochures on the table is an incidental use. Satellite campaign offices might only be open M,W, F from 10-2pm. How far can they reach- depends on the terrain. You can often rent a phone and a desk at someone's real estate office. State parties often do a coordinated direct mail and slate card effort for Pres, senate, congress, state rep etc. Earned media is significant if a celebrity supports your candidacy. If the President of the US comes to town, it will probably be for something official. But your campaign will have to pay $40-$50,000 for security, trans, room rental, etc. So tack on a fundraising event and also a lunch with the President for $2,000. Make money on celebrity events, including the President. 60-70% of a senate campaign is spent on the media. You must be on the air. You can't be everywhere. Try to bank some money for emergencies and for the last three weeks. It is hard for a corporation to donate food or facilities. A restaurant owner may be a sole proprietor, which makes it easier. PACs can give $5,000 to a candidate? (speaker is not an attorney). Gimmicks like campaign pens and mousepads lose money.